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SalaamGarage Leaders

AMANDA KOSTER: FOUNDER + LEADER

Amanda Koster is an internationally acclaimed photographer whose commercial and personal work has shown a consistent commitment to telling stories of real people, human rights, cultural diversity and global equality. She combines her anthropology background with multi-media skills to create content as a means for powerful communication and storytelling.

She created SalaamGarage because: 1) many asked “Can I Come With You” [on international projects] 2) after so many travel slide shows wondered, what would happen they had visited NGOs and included that in their slides? 3) wondered what would happen if people plugged meaningful, powerful content into their social media sites?

Her book “Can I Come with You?” (Bennett & Hastings, 2008) is a collection of over a decade of her int’l social documentary projects, including excerpts from her personal journals. She has received many awards and grants for her personal projects including 8 awards for her project AIDS Is Knocking in the prestigious IPA Lucie Awards. Amanda is featured among the fifty successful, inspiring American women in the book: “In Their Shoes.” (by Deborah Reber, publisher: Simon & Schuster).

Besides shooting commercially, Amanda is working with the NYU Dept. of Global Health creating hyper-local multi-media content for software to serve HIV/AIDS patients in Kenya. Clients include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Int’l YWCA, The New York Times, Newsweek, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Business Week, and national advertising agencies. She has taught photography internationally and is invited regularly as an industry speaker and representative worldwide. She is represented by Samara Lectures for all public speaking events. Personally she is an avid mountaineer, known for her x-ray vision, laser communication style and unbreakable spirit.

Maggie Soladay
New York , NY

Maggie Soladay is an photography editor, producer, and photographer based in NYC. She is a passionate activist, using her knowledge of the old and new media to tackle the world’s humanitarian and environmental problems. Maggie believes everyone has a calling to give back to the communities they care about. While photographers and journalists have a special duty, she says, “We can be officers of justice and social change by putting our media skills to use for good.”

Soladay will soon launch SalaamGarage Local/NYC! She will also lead SalaamGarage India 2011 trip.

Eduardo Sciamarella
Los Angeles, CA

Eduardo is a social entrepreneur and photographer. He is currently CEO and Co-founder of GatherGreen - a daily deal site featuring local sustainable businesses. Eduardo attended the Institute of Design where he studied photography and industrial design. For over ten years Eduardo was one of Sony’s elite designers working on advanced concepts in both product and interaction design. He is the inventor of over 40 patents and winner of several international design awards. In 2004 Eduardo established Protohaus – a design innovation consultancy – clients include Apple, Disney, Microsoft, Nokia, Samasung, and Sony.

Eduardo is a strong believer in citizen journalism. His first experience with citizen journalism was with SalaamGarage, he says, “We need to re-imagine documentary storytelling by traveling and listening to how others struggle to live on our planet today. It’s vital that we gift these stories to our friends and family.” Eduardo traveled with SalaamGarage to India in 2009.

Antoinette Douglass-Hall
San Francisco, CA

Antoinette was born in the UK to West Indian parents. Growing up, her passion in photography led her to gain a BA Hons in Photography. She then made her way to US starting in San Francisco, then onto New York City and back to San Francisco again.

Her work in photography has allowed her to work with all kinds of people and travel to many different places from St Louis, US to Mumbai, India. Antoinette participates in a youth mentorship program called First Exposure, based out of a gallery called SF CameraWorks. Here, she works one on one with youth interested in photography. She mentors a 16-year-old girl through digital photography, providing support and tools for creative expression as together they learn about each other and photography. This work allows Antoinette to share her knowledge and love of photography and provide consistent support in a child’s personal growth and creative pursuits. She loves it.

Antoinette traveled with SalaamGarage to Ethiopia in 2010 so that she could, ”have a chance for adventure, culture and reaching out to women and their community to contribute a meaningful spark of great change.”

Kristie McLean
Seattle, WA

Kristie is a Seattle-based documentary photographer, writer, and professional coach with a passion for empowering others through conversations and images. She has traveled to more than 50 countries on six continents and is dedicated to raising awareness of social issues and sharing those stories across diverse networks and communities. Over the years Kristie has profiled Unexploded Ordinances in Laos, child brides in Afghanistan, access to clean water in rural Kenya, and drug-and-alcohol-free First Nation communities in the Pacific Northwest.

She traveled with SalaamGarage in 2010 to Ethiopia to highlight the issue of obstetric fistula. Kristie’s photography and writing has been showcased at global summits in Europe and Asia and in numerous books, magazines, and websites. Her coaching strives to help others align their gifts, talents, and interests with the broader needs of the planet. Kristie believes unfailingly that empowering images and ongoing conversations can, and do, change the world.